Tools to Support

Name of Tools

Explanation of Tool

Possibilities for Use

NewspaperMap

• Find and translate over 10 000 newspapers

• Very easy to navigate with world map and colour coded pegs to represent different languages

• Search by newspaper name, language and/or location

• Discover new events from around the world

• Compare news reports of the same event reported from different countries

Skype

• "Talk over the Internet to anyone in the world for free"

• Features include: calling, video calling, sending files, messaging, conference calling

• Classrooms can connect easily and for free

• Synchronous connections allow for real-time experiences

• Many resources at Skype in the Classroom (also found in "Turning Ideas into Actions")

Flickr

• Photographs shared from all around the world

• View, discuss, compare, contrast, and explore images from around the world

• To find groups of photos on a particular topic or country conduct a Group Search within Flickr

• Try Flickr Group Local and Flickr The Global Community

Wallwisher

• An interactive wall of Post-It notes

• Able to add text plus image, audio and video links to the notes

• 160 character limit

• Once the wall is set up you receive a link to share with anyone you choose

• Great possibilities for students to gather around a topic, issue, event or a question and share their opinions, ideas and resources

• This tool could be used once a global connection was already established between classrooms or a teacher could invite other classrooms to join the Wall conversation by sharing the link via Twitter or other social networks

VoiceThread

• An online conversation that takes the form of a "collaborative, multimedia slide show"

• Participate in a conversation by adding voice, text, audio files and video

• Creates a forum for students to discuss, reflect and share visually and in their own words

• Collect and share students' ideas in one location

Google Docs

• Create documents, spreadsheets and presentations

• Edit, share and collaborate

• Access anytime from anywhere

• Google Docs in Plain English

• Google Docs allow students to work together regardless of their location

• Students can collaborate, co-create, and provide feedback in Google Docs

Google Forms

• Create an online form/survey

• Easy to use templates

• Possible response formats: multiple choice, written response, check boxes, scale, grid, list

• Submissions are automatically collated in a spreadsheet

• Google Forms can be used to gather students' ideas, opinions and feedback regardless of their location

• An excellent complementary resource: 80+ Google Forms for the classroom

Twitter

• Online social networking tool

• Microblogging service

• Post comments of 140 characters or less

• Used to share ideas, resources, links, photos and more

• Content can be categorized using hashtags, a method for organizing tweets related to a theme

• Twitter in Plain English

• spread awareness about a global project

• contribute to a ongoing discussion via global education hashtags

• access experts, organizations, other classrooms

• connect with others quickly and efficiently

Today's Meet

• An online chat that can be created to last 2 hours to 1 year

• Handy as a side window that streams while a conversation is going on

• Can share links as a lesson is going on

• Not completely anonymous so still has some accountability

• Allows for sharing of ideas from all when ideas come up, without interrupting a speaker

Edmodo

• Edmodo helps create communities for students in a safe moderated environment

• Students and teachers can join rich discussions, participate in polls, take quizzes, view embedded videos and share documents

• Parents can join in the fun by joining a class account to stay informed

• Edmodo supports the creation of a collaborative environment by joining students and teachers together in safe communities

Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration

• The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) supports access and utilization of video conferencing for interactive content, professional development, and a web based collaborative learning environment for education

• There is a tab called collaborations where teachers from all over the world post requests for working with others from around the world

• Many other resources for video conferencing available on this website

Google Earth

• Virtual map of the Earth

• Street-level and satellite views of the Earth

• Linking locations with news articles helps students empathize and gain global context

• You can put place markers on articles as you read them

• See this video for a demonstration

• Street-level and satellite views allow students to virtually travel around the Earth gaining perspective and context

• By toggling on the Global Awareness layer you can see nonprofit organizations around the world and link their blogs and websites

Ushahidi

• Ushahidi is a tool to easily crowd-source information using multiple channels, including SMS, email, Twitter and the web, and then map that information

• "The goal of the project is democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories."

• Ushahidi has been used to map disasters and monitor elections

• Interactive mapping

• Dynamic timeline

• Free and open source tools

Diigo

• Social Bookmarking: Teachers create a teacher account, and then set up groups for each class

• While researching students can highlight and annotate their findings, and bookmark their research with tags in groups set up for the project

• Other schools and students can join these groups

• Students can review their highlighted sections and annotations to analyze the information—adding more annotations as needed

• Diigo can also be used as a portfolio tool to bookmark, analyze, and evaluate one's global footprint

• Teams of students working on any type of project can share their information and ideas (annotations, sticky notes)

• Teams can be within the class, the school, or with students in other schools